Eating too close to the time one goes to bed has negative effects such as indigestion, less restful sleep and weight gain. With no known positive benefits from eating before going to bed, steps should be taken to avoid it.
Weight gain and eating at night
Currently, the exact link between eating at night and weight gain is unclear, and many argue that a calorie of energy is the same no matter when it was consumed. There is certainly some truth to this, and people should be wary of promises by marketers or others they can make calories not count. However, weight loss and gain is not quite as simple as that.
The human body is evolved to be active primarily at night and has lower rates of metabolism then. Studies on mice have shown that those given exactly the same diet when mice are normally inactive gained much more weight than those who were fed when at the opposite time even though other factors were kept constant. Studies on people, while not as conclusive, point in the same direction.
Other effects of eating before bed
Whatever the exact link is, eating before one sleeps is certainly not a good thing to do. Even if there is not a significant difference in the way the calories are burned, eating at night causes other problems such as indigestion (since the connection between the stomach and the esophagus become horizontal when one lies down). Also, those who eat more in the evening eat less for the most important meal of the day: breakfast. They also tend to eat more overall. Finally, the body should be using sleep time to rest and recover from the day. Having to digest food at this time will therefore make sleep less restful.
To avoid these problems, it is advisable to avoid eating at least 2-3 hours before going to bed. Ideally, the last meal of the day should be smaller, low on concentrated carbohydrates and consist primarily of lean proteins and vegetables.
Ways to avoid eating before bed
Eating too much at night has psychological as well as physical causes. This makes it important for everyone to try different methods to find the ones that work best for them.
One simple method that will make dentists happy is to thoroughly clean one’s teeth right after dinner. The thought of dirtying teeth after they have been cleaned is one motivating factor that helps people refrain from eating
Since availability leads to temptation, avoid buying the kinds of snacks that are tempting to eat at night. While most cannot be bothered to go out for that late snack, it may be nearly impossible to resist if one is readily at hand. Those who really need snacks should buy nutritious foods that will do less damage.
Keeping busy also helps. Good hobbies have various benefits to include keeping the mind occupied and away from thoughts of food while more passive activities like watching TV will not.
Lighter exercise and stretching will also keep one occupied, less likely to eat and bring other health benefits.
While dinner and bedtime should be separated by 2-3 hours or more, move dinner to a later time than it would be otherwise if hunger makes it impossible avoid too many late night snacks.
Cold water, herbal tea (since it does not contain caffeine) or decaffeinated coffee are good ways to satisfy the stomach and keep it occupied until it is time to go to bed. Set aside a certain time to have one of these drinks in the evening and make it a daily event.
Eating smaller, more frequent meals during the day, starting with a good breakfast, has been shown to reduce appetite at night and has other health benefits. Meals should be kept at regular times whenever possible to avoid overeating and to keep the appetite regular.
Find a good meditation method and reflect on reasons not to eat in the evening. This will also help reduce anxiety.
It may take time, but keep a goal in mind and eventually it will be possible to train oneself not to eat too much before bedtime.
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you can avoid indigestion by eating high fiber foods.;`~